


No Joy Without Sadness

by shopgirl152



Category: Inside Out (2015)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Revelations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 11:36:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4220193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopgirl152/pseuds/shopgirl152
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Here amongst the rapidly dissipating memory balls, all of that seemed hopeless now. She’d failed. Everything she’d tried had failed. Riley’s personality islands were gone, her long term memories shattered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Joy Without Sadness

_Without pain, how could we know joy?  
_ _\--John Green. The Fault in Our Stars_

She was a part of her. No, not a part. She _was_ her. She was Riley’s hopes. Her dreams. Her happiness. Her Joy. She was everything about Riley that was good. She was the reason Riley smiled. The reason she laughed.

She was there seconds after Riley was born and for those short thirty-two seconds, this newborn baby was hers and hers alone. Riley was her little girl. She’d watched her grow up, becoming her own person.

But here, here amongst the rapidly dissipating memory balls, all of that seemed hopeless now.

She’d failed. Everything she’d tried had failed. Riley’s personality islands were gone, her long term memories shattered.

Silent tears ran down her cheeks as one by one she picked up the remaining memory balls, turning each of them over in her hands.

The face of a once cheerful little girl stared back at her, each memory dancing across the marbled surface.

Joy gave a watery smile, replacing the memory ball before reaching for another. “The Twisty Tree memory. I always loved this one.” The Prairie Dogs were tossing Riley up in the air after the big game. Her girl was smiling and laughing. She was happy.

She wiped away a tear, running a finger across the smooth surface.

The memory rewound, changing to blue as Riley sat in the Twisty Tree alone, her shoulders slumped. Her parents soon joined, climbing up into the tree and sitting next to her, wrapping her in a collective hug.

Joy swiped a finger across the memory’s surface, the color changing from blue back to yellow as the memory went forward. Back and forth, back and forth. Yellow to blue and back again. “But why—“

_It was the day the Prairie Dogs lost the big playoff game. Riley missed the winning shot. She felt awful. She wanted to quit._

The finger swiped across the surface again. Yellow. Blue. Yellow. Blue. Joy. Sadness. Joy. Sadness.

Suddenly, everything made sense. Riley wasn’t just _her_ girl. She belonged to all of them. Disgust. Anger. Fear. They were a part of Riley too, each one looking out for her well being.

And Riley belonged to Sadness too.

“Without Sadness, Riley wouldn’t know me.” Joy sat back on her heels, letting the thought sink in. “All this time, I’ve been shielding Riley from Sadness. But…Riley needs both of us. Riley…has to cry.” Joy jumped to her feet, frantically searching the vast bank of discarded memories. “She has to cry, she has to cry, she has to cry. We have to get back to headquarters!”

“But how?” Bingbong asked. “We’re stuck down here.”

“Would your wagon be down here?”

“I don’t know. It could be, but—“

“WHO’S YOUR FRIEND WHO LIKES TO PLAY?! BINGBONG BINGBONG!” Joy ran across the discarded memories, singing at the top of her lungs. The idea was crazy and farfetched, but it was just crazy enough to work.

A wagon lit up across the vast expanse and she dashed towards it.

Maybe they wouldn’t make it. Maybe she’d fail again. But she had to try.

She’d do anything to get her girl back.


End file.
